''Noctua interjecta'', the least yellow underwing, is a species of
moth
Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...
of the family
Noctuidae
The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...
. It is found in Europe.
Subspecies
There are two subspecies:
* ''Noctua interjecta interjecta'' (Alps, southern France, northern and south-eastern Spain, northern Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria, northern Greece and Romania)
* ''Noctua interjecta caliginosa''
( Schawerda, 1919) (southern and central England, Wales, southern Ireland, northern France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands, northern Germany, Denmark, southern Sweden, Czech Republic and Austria)
Description
The
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
is 31–36 mm. The length of the forewings is 14–17 mm. Forewing greyish rufous, sometimes darkened with fuscous; lines and stigmata a little darker, often very obscure; hindwing orange yellow with a broad marginal black border; costal and inner margins, a submedian streak from base, and the cell blackish; fringe yellow.
The larva is pale ochreous with black dots; the lines pale, with darker edges.
Biology
In Belgium and the Netherlands, this species flies in one generation from late June to August.
The larvae feed on various grasses and herbaceous plants such as
meadowsweet (''Filipendula ulmaria'') and
common mallow Common mallow is a common name used for a number of different species of ''Malva'':
*''Malva sylvestris'' is the common mallow in Europe and North Africa
*''Malva neglecta'' is the common mallow in the United States
*'' Malva preissiana'' is a "com ...
(''Malva sylvestris'').
References
External links
Lepiforum''Noctua interjecta''
at Markku Savela's ''Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms''
Fauna Europaea
Lepidoptera of Belgium
Least yellow underwing
at UKMoths
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1147240
Noctua (moth)
Moths of Europe
Moths of the Middle East
Moths described in 1803
Taxa named by Jacob Hübner